Marcus Meyer

Learn about Florida Entrepreneur Marcus Meyer:

Marcus Meyer, founder of Gator Cleaning Solutions, which was named one of GrowFL's Companies To Watch for 2016, started the company on his own without any investors, employees or partners in 2004 and has grown it to more than $2 million in revenue. "When I started, all I had was a mop bucket, a vacuum and some business cards," Meyer said. "I did everything on my own. I prospected for new accounts during the day and cleaned in the evening into the night. There was a six month stretch during which I never got more than three or four hours of sleep."

In addition to growing the company's revenue, Meyer has grown its service offerings from just janitorial services to also include floor maintenance, window and pressure washing and most recently residential floor cleaning services. "We had trucks sitting in my parking lot all day because our commercial work is done at night," he said. "We wanted those trucks to be making money during the daytime also doing residential work. We recently bought out a residential cleaning company from an acquaintance of mine to create our residential division. There's a lot of growth still available in all our divisions but more so in the residential."

Meyer and his team appreciate the validation of their efforts that comes with being recognized as a GrowFL Company To Watch. "To go from a one man show to being recognized as one of 50 companies in state to watch is amazing," he said. "When you're on the inside running a business, it can be a chaotic rollercoaster, and I often think I could be doing lots of things better but when you get awards like this, it helps you recognize you are doing something right. The award gives us more confidence to keep going trying to hit the goals I've had since day one."

Meyer's advice to aspiring entrepreneurs is that starting a business is an all-consuming effort. "Dig deep because it's not easy," he said. "You need to be self-directed and motivated to do it. There's nothing better than being your own boss but don’t' think being your own boss means you work less."

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